WO-A-94/05183 discloses a method for producing a toothbrush consisting of two different material components, in which method, in a first step, the main body of the toothbrush is injected from a first material component, for which purpose a first cavity is provided. Thereafter, in a second cavity, a further material component, for example an elastic and/or nonslip material, is injected onto various parts of the main body. The main body has a relatively narrow cross section both in its area supporting the bristles and also in its handle area.
In order to improve the grip of toothbrushes and to permit comfortable handling, it is advantageous to make the toothbrush relatively solid in its handle area, i.e. to give the handle a relatively large cross section. However, this kind of handle design entails a number of disadvantages from the point of view of production technology. Not only is more material used as a result of the greater volume of the handle; the injection time and cooling time are also hugely increased by the greater mass, and the injection-molding process is thus prolonged (longer molding time). In addition, such handle parts with a relatively large cross section have a tendency to cavitation (i.e. formation of air bubbles) which are visible in handles made of a transparent material and detract from the esthetic effect of the toothbrush.